Kenya Airways, the largest airline in Kenya, will launch flights to Saudi Arabia's Jeddah city from October 18.

The service marks the airline's 56th global destination and the third in the Middle East.

Dr Titus Naikuni, the airline’s group managing director and CEO, said: “Jeddah is an important destination for the airline because of its economic importance as a trading partner for several African and European countries as well as being the gateway to the Holy city of Makkah.”

Dr Naikuni added that Kenya Airways would relentlessly pursue its growth objective this year by adding new routes to its network and improving its the efficiency on existing ones.

“We are doing this by adding new aircraft and establishing additional frequencies on the high traffic routes to ensure we offer more alternative flights to our customers. We have just taken delivery of our eighth Embraer E-190 jet and another one is currently going through final tests before its delivery early next month.”

Dr Naikuni added that Kenya Airways will use the new route to serve travellers within Africa and from outside the continent desirous of shorter connection time to the rest of Africa, Middle East, Europe and the Far East through its hub at the JKIA in Nairobi.

Apart from its economic potential, Dr Naikuni noted that Jeddah offered potential for tourists from the Middle East which would help to boost the industry for the country.

“The Middle East offers great potential for tourists for Kenya and we are confident that the new service from Kenya Airways will make it easier for our partners in the industry to bring in visitors to explore what Kenya has to offer,” he said.

Kenya Airways will operate the route twice a week -- every Tuesday and Saturday -- on a Boeing 737-800. – TradeArabia News Service